The disappearance of journalist Ahmed Rilwan and the other side of ‘paradise’.

Clichéd journalism on Sri Lanka’s political crisis.

30 Years of Archives

Looking back on Bhutan

As Bhutanese voters get ready to go to the polls on 18 October 2018 in what will be the young democracy’s third parliamentary elections, we take a look back at our extensive coverage of the Himalayan kingdom over the years.

From our Archive:

Source: Wikimedia Commmons

Being queer in Southasia

In a major victory for LBGTQ rights, on 6 September 2018, the Supreme Court of India unanimously ruled to decriminalise consensual same-sex acts by partially striking down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. This came after the same court had, in 2013, overrruled a 2009 Delhi High Court verdict which declared Section 377 unconstitutional. Here are some selected readings from our extensive coverage of LGBTQ rights in India and around Southasia.

From our Archive:

Illustration: Marcin Bondarowicz

India’s crackdown on dissent

As the Indian government cracks down on several prominent activists and writers across India, here are some readings from our archives on authoritarian tendencies in India’s body politic at present and in the past.

From our Archive:

Silence by sanction

Illustration: Marcin Bondarowicz

Photojournalist and activist Shahidul Alam was picked up by the Bangladeshi law enforcement earlier this week over remarks made on Facebook about the government crackdown on protesting students in Dhaka. Alam continues to be in custody under Section 57 (2) of the controversial Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, a legislation that has attracted widespread criticism over its draconian nature. The act has been used to detain over 20 journalists in the recent past for, among other things, social media posts and comments critical of the government. Over the years, similar laws have been enforced in other countries of Southasia, with authorities abusing the provisions of these often hurriedly and arbitrarily passed laws to clamp down on any dissent.

From our Archive:

Stateless in Assam

On 30 July 2018, the final draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) of India’s northeastern state of Assam was released, which left out around four million people living in the state, potentially stripping them of their citizenship rights. The NRC, compiled over a period five years at a staggering cost of INR 12.2 billion (USD 177.9 million), comprises only those who were able to prove they were in Assam before 1971, when Bangladesh became independent.